22 SUNSHINE AND SPORT IN 



a man had enough of it. In a land where brick- 

 layers can earn ^300 a year, and where waiters 

 make a salary that would content a bank manager 

 in a cathedral city, European incomes go no way. 

 I dined, once by invitation, the second time alone, 

 on successive evenings at two of the noted resorts, 

 Sherry's and Delmonico's which stand vis-a-vis on 

 Fifth Avenue, at opposite corners of some cross 

 street, of which I forget the number. At each I 

 found excellent French cooking, beautiful women 

 who dined in immense hats crowned with bobbing 

 aigrettes, and on every table bottles of Poland, 

 Apollinaris, White Rock, or other mineral waters 

 then in vogue. At Sherry's, three or four dollars 

 are soon consumed in the shape of little neck- 

 clams, a dish of soft-shelled crab, of which you eat 

 legs and all, a fillet with mushrooms, an ice made 

 with fresh strawberries, and a cup of coffee, not, it 

 will be seen, a very sybaritic repast, yet well 

 served and quite enjoyable, even at the price. 

 When I recall the name of Delmonico, memory 

 smacks ghostly lips over a capon financiere, a celery 

 salad, and a peach rosadelle, the last a wonderful 

 combination of a fresh peach, a fruit ice and a hot 

 sauce, named after the late Madame Rosa Del- 

 monico. Bust of Handel ! To such a sweet I 

 would rather give my name than to oratorio ! 

 With my visit to Sherry's, I shall always asso- 

 ciate an amusing episode. I was dining with some 

 Americans, and a lady of the party had assured me 

 that during my stay in her country I should see 

 little intemperance anywhere, and in polite circles 

 none. I did not defend the drunkenness at home 

 from her innuendo, for, strictly speaking, it is not 



